Smitten

by Colleen Coble

  How do you feel about that?”

  “I feel . . . I feel completely dumbstruck and honored.”

  “That’s what I told her you’d say. So when do you think you can get back here?”

  “It’s not that easy, Devlin. Zak has started building the spa, and—”

  “Did you ask him to do that?”

  “Well, I—he did it to get me started. My friends—”

  “Your friends are trying to make something of a nothing town on little more than a wing and a prayer. What I’m offering you . . . what Mrs. Shapiro is offering you, is what you said you wanted. Your own high-end spa. You’ll be equipped with everything I have here, and you’ll cater to a younger audience.

  It couldn’t be more perfect for you, Julia. It’s everything that I trained you for.”

  “But why didn’t you tell me before you came to Smitten?”

  “I didn’t know Mrs. Shapiro wanted to open another spa. I was going to back you with my own money in Smitten, regardless of what your boyfriend thought. I believe in you and your abilities, but I don’t know anything about how small towns work.

  I understand the island of Manhattan. I know this is a surefire hit. Would you trade that for what is, at best, a long shot?”

  She walked back to the brick sidewalk of Main Street and focused on the green clock and the oversize wreath of faith hanging from beneath the clock’s face. Was faith leaving logic behind and trusting? Or was that nothing more than stupidity? Didn’t God say to be as wise as serpents? That meant using what information you’d been given, not just blindly going forth on a feeling.

  “Give me a day to think about it, Devlin. It’s a huge change, and I have to make sure my mother is well enough to be left on her own now.”

  “Your mother’s a big girl. She can find the help she needs. She wouldn’t want to hold her daughter back. I’ll give you a day, no more. Mrs. Shapiro is ready to go on this, and don’t think I can’t find a replacement for you. But you know I want you, Julia. It’s not your responsibility to save that town.

  You have to think about yourself! What will you do with your future if that town dies again?”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Think about what I said.”

  “How could I think about anything else?” She snapped her phone shut.

  Amy’s heels clicked along the brick sidewalk toward her. Julia knew it was too late to retreat, so she steeled herself for another uncomfortable conversation. Amy stared at her, shook her head, and kept walking. Julia walked slowly toward the grill.

  As she walked up the ramp, she took the small wreath from the door and held it.

  Zak came to the door and looked at her through the wooden screen door. “I didn’t ask Amy here.”

  She nodded, careful to avoid his penetrating deep hazel gaze. “I know.”

  Zak opened the door out for her to come in. She glanced about the room, and her spa took form in her mind. She could hear the trickling water from the corner fountain, smell the calming lavender and sensuous sandalwood. For a brief moment she envisioned the spa completely done, and even pictured Zoe, Natalie’s cousin, answering calls at the front desk.

  “Julia, are you all right?”

  “Everything here in Smitten is uncertain. Will Sawyer’s wedding bring tourists in droves? Will you be able to reopen the mill and run the grill? Will everyone’s renovations— Carson’s at the lodge and yours at the grill—pay off? New York is a sure thing for me, Zak.”

  He nodded.

  “I know the market. I’d have Mrs. Shapiro’s financial backing and Devlin’s expertise whenever I got into trouble.

  All I have here is blind faith with a dash of hope.” She stared at him from across the room. And you, Zak.

  Zak’s barrel chest made the room feel smaller. Intimate.

  “That’s all you have here in Smitten? What about your best friends? What about your family?” He stood next to her in the late morning sunlight, and without thought she reached for his cheek, covered by three days’ worth of stubble.

  She snapped her hand away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s one of the quirks of my business. I’m interested in the texture of a person’s skin, and my curiosity gets the best of me sometimes.

  You understand.” She swallowed hard at his proximity, willing him to say what she needed to hear. Give me a reason to stay, Zak.

  “What about me?”

  She twisted away from his prying eyes. “If there was anything in my life that was uncertain, it’s always been you, Zak Grant. I’ll pay you back for the work you’ve done, if that’s what you mean.” Her voice trembled. “I’d better get home.

  I’m going to bring my supplies to the lake before the fireworks and offer free skin consultations.”

  “Why? I mean, if you’re not staying, why offer the people of Smitten anything?”

  She searched for an answer. “Maybe you’re right. I have to be able to support myself, Zak, and while I love Smitten, I can’t pin my future on a long shot.” She walked toward the door and turned back around. “Let me know what I owe you for all of this. They’re still looking for a home for the new lingerie shop. Maybe you could rent this space to them.”

  As she reached the door, she squeezed Mia’s wreath again.

  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

  “I’m sorry, Zak.”

  Once outside, she felt sick to her stomach. She loved Zak Grant. There was no denying it, and she didn’t love him like a big brother or a childhood friend. She loved him, and all it would have taken was one small word from him and she would have stayed. Her faith would have been restored in Smitten.

  She didn’t want his building. She didn’t want his construction expertise. She wanted him. But to stay there and work alongside him every day? To watch him flirt with patrons and waitresses? That was a future she couldn’t handle. No matter how much faith she mustered up inside of herself.

  “Good-bye, Zak.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Timber Lake, with its blooming wildflowers and magnificent backdrop of the surrounding mountains, shone salmon-pink in the evening light. The entire town gathered around the lake, and on center stage, Violet and her sisters played their stringed instruments festively. As far as the sisters were concerned, every year was 1945 and there was no reason to stop celebrating the end of World War II.

  Julia was surprised at how much energy those three women could muster when they had an audience. Applause was like a battery to their souls.

  Natalie sat with Mia on a checkered blanket, and the little girl ate a hot dog and slurped a lemonade.

  “Well, you two look like you’ve had a good day.”

  Mia nodded, her mouth full of food.

  “That’s her third hot dog,” Natalie said. “But they’re nitrate-free. Zak had the good sense to listen to me on that.

  Do you want a gluten-free cookie?” Natalie lifted her picnic basket.

  “Uh, no thanks.” Julia tried to find the best way to tell Natalie she’d be leaving town.

  “I think I’ve really perfected it this time.”

  “I’m sure they’re great. I have to watch my waistline, you know.” She patted her tummy. “Can’t bend over a big belly and give a proper facial.”

  “Julia Bourne, you don’t have an ounce of fat on you either. You and Reese seem determined to make the rest of us believe you’re not perfect.”

  “I’m definitely not perfect. I don’t want a cookie, Nat.”

  Julia looked over and noticed Zak behind a portable barbecue flipping hamburgers. He smiled at her, and her stomach fluttered. “Zak never said he’d be here. I thought he’d be working on the renovations.”

  “Everyone needs a break, and this is his way of giving back to the community. I think it’s awesome he’s here,”

  Natalie said. “Did you go by and see the work he and Carson did?”

  “Oh yeah. It’s great. I mean, they’ve really
outdone themselves. But, Nat, I need to tell you something. Well, you and Reese and Shelby too.”

  “I thought you were bringing your facial supplies to do skin consultations. Didn’t you tell me that?”

  “I was going to, but I have a confession to make, and you’re not going to like it, so I didn’t want to bring anything you might use as a weapon.”

  “Well, today would have been perfect to introduce the town to what you do. Carson said the spa is going to be ready by August. Aren’t you amazed how these men have come through for the romance destination? I’m so proud of them, because they’ve come such a long way in their thinking.

  They’re not too proud to admit when they’re wrong. Says a lot about the men of Smitten. Personally, I think there’re no better men on earth.”

  “Hmm. If I were dating a man like Carson, I might feel that way too.” Julia became sidetracked by a gaggle of ducks around a small boy who fed them pieces of his hamburger bun. “I’ll miss it here.”

  “Julia?”

  “Huh?”

  “Don’t you think the men have come a long way?”

  “Totally,” she agreed.

  “The whole town has come so far,” Natalie continued.

  “I’m delighted when I look at how quaint Main Street looks with its twinkling lights at night and the flower boxes all perfectly kept. The way Carson and Zak are working together to renovate . . . It’s like this town knows how to be there for each other.”

  “Uh-huh,” Julia said absently.

  “I heard next year on the Fourth we’re going to have a hot-air balloon parade. It’s going to be something.”

  Julia stared up into the clear blue sky. “Natalie, I’m not staying.”

  “For the fireworks? Do you know how hard Carson worked to pull together this show on a shoestring budget? Of course you’re staying. Sit down. We’ve got room on the blanket. Mia, honey, move over and make room for Julia.”

  “No, I mean in Smitten. I’m not staying in Smitten. I had an offer today from Devlin. He wants me to open a new spa in New York and—I took it as a sign.”

  “A bigger sign than Zak and Carson building you a spa? A bigger sign than Zak going on the Internet and ordering you bamboo massage tables? A bigger sign than that?”

  Mia put down her soda can and shook her head. “No, that’s not where you’re supposed to be, Miss Julia.”

  “Mia, you little sweetheart. I wish I had your faith, honey, but I just—well, there are reasons that you’re too little to understand. Miss Julia has to earn a living and be independent in ways that I’m not sure Smitten can provide for me.

  I provide a service that I’m not sure the people of Smitten need.”

  “Then the tourists need it, isn’t that right, Aunt Nat? I saw the wreath on the door at Zak’s.” Mia stood up. “Do you know what it means, Miss Julia? It stands for eternity. ’Cause God will always take care of us.”

  “Help me out here, Nat,” Julia said.

  Natalie’s lips flattened. “You’re on your own. We’ve all done our parts. Zak made space for you, and he and Carson are working their tails off to get that spa ready for you. How can you be so selfish as to walk out on us now? Carson!” she called out. “Carson, can you take Mia to find Reese and Shelby? Julia needs to talk to all of us.”

  “Sure,” Carson said, and the hulking man lifted Mia as if she were no more than a packet of sugar, then went off into the crowd.

  “I’m not running away, and I haven’t told my parents yet, but I can send them money this way and they can enjoy their retirement years. Nat, you have Mia and Carson here for you.

  There’s a reason for you to stay and make it work. What’s here for me? Zak’s ever-revolving door of girlfriends? And a spa with no clients that smells like barbecued ribs? This isn’t right.”

  “That’s what this is about—Zak? Your mind moves quicker than mercury, and when it does, you don’t make wise decisions. You run, but part of relationships is sticking around when it gets tough.”

  “I can’t go there every day, Nat. I love Zak,” she admitted.

  “He’s doing my brother a favor, and he thinks it’s cute to flirt with me, when it breaks my heart. I wish I wasn’t so weak, but I am. I don’t want to watch him date and marry someone else.

  I’m not like you, Nat. I don’t have your fortitude.”

  “Have you told him you love him? I’ll let you go without another word if you’ve told him.”

  “I can’t tell him that. I’d never hear the end of it. My brother always told me to leave him alone, that he wasn’t interested. Maybe that’s what draws me to him. I never was very good at doing what I was told.”

  Natalie laughed. “Are you serious? Oh my goodness, the drama. Girl!”

  “What’s so funny?” Reese came alongside them in her track pants and red, white, and blue T-shirt. Reese always appeared as if she might be forced at gunpoint to run a 10k at any given moment. “Hey, Julia, where’s your stuff? I wanted my free skin consultation.”

  “She didn’t bring it. Julia thinks Zak put together a spa for her because he feels guilty, and she’s threatening to go back to New York where the Devil man offered her her own spa.”

  “What? First off, what would Zak have to feel guilty about?” Reese asked. “Besides, have you met Zak? He’s not exactly the type to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Can you say problems with authority?”

  Shelby appeared then with Penelope in a red, white, and blue rhinestone collar. “What’s going on?”

  “Julia thinks Zak built the spa because Greg asked him to do it so she wouldn’t go back to New York and leave her parents alone to worry about both of them. She gets out guilt-free, and Zak is stuck with half a spa.”

  Now Reese laughed, and Julia felt her face getting warm.

  “Julia, your father worries about his cable going out and if his dinner is on time. Get real. He can live without you.

  Your mother is doing fine.”

  “Reese, I’d expect you of all people to understand. Do you like how everyone looks at you with those puppy dog eyes because they think you’re not over Sawyer Smitten?”

  “Well, no. But, Julia, what Nat is trying to tell you is that Zak’s in love with you. That’s why he built the spa. We think maybe Carson getting himself a girlfriend gave Zak some gumption,” Reese said.

  “And we think he can’t go after you because he promised Greg something. But you can go after him. That’s our theory, so go put it to the test.” Shelby nodded toward the grill.

  Now it was Julia who laughed. “Zak Grant? In love with me? Ha! He had a funny way of showing it with Amy Hastings all those years.”

  “He didn’t know it! He sees himself as the Lone Ranger, the man who doesn’t need a woman. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to move heaven and earth to keep you near him. The two of you are both so stubborn. Neither one of you thinks you need another living soul, and rather than admit that as a weakness, you run and he makes excuses like ‘doing what Greg wants.’

  Greg’s across the world—he’s not the boss of you.”

  “Well, that kind of love doesn’t do anybody any good.”

  “So tell him that!” Reese said.

  Natalie, Shelby, and Reese dared her with their darkened brows and laser stares.

  “You want me to tell him that? Fine, I’ll tell him that.

  I’ve got nothing to lose, right? I’ll be in New York by week’s end.”

  “That’s right, nothing to lose. Not if you’re going back to New York,” Natalie said.

  “I’m going to.” Julia pretended to stand up, but Reese stood and lifted her from the picnic blanket.

  “We’re waiting,” Reese said.

  “I’m gonna do it,” she said, but inwardly she wondered what she could say to Zak to get the desired reaction for the girls. Maybe she could just ask him for a hug and tell the girls he said they were just friends.

  “Oh, for crying out loud, I’ll do it.” Natalie stood up.
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  “No!” Julia cried. “I’ll go.” She walked across the grass that surrounded Timber Lake and willed her mind to think of something to say as she approached. She pulled her hair back into a makeshift ponytail and tied it in a knot. She stood across the large, iron barbecue from Zak, a plume of smoke between them.

  Zak cranked the grill up and away from the fire, and the smoke lessened. “Julia, you hungry?”

  “No . . . well, yeah. Maybe.”

  “Hot dog or hamburger?” He bent into the smoke. “I’ve got some ribs for special folks. You want some ribs?”

  She smiled. “A hot dog is fine. I heard they have no nitrates.”

  He handed her a plate with a grin. “Sergeant Natalie has spoken. I guess you heard. The condiments are over there on that checkered table.”

  “I like mustard,” she said for some unknown reason. He nodded as though she were simple, and for that moment she supposed she was.

  “I like mustard too.”

  “And pie. You like my mom’s pie with vanilla ice cream and Cool Whip.”

  “That’s right. I do. Did you happen to bring me some?”

  He moved around the grill and looked at her legs. “I also like it served in stilettos.” He winked.

  “Ballet flats this evening, for the fireworks,” she said.

  “Hard to walk in the grass in stilettos.”

  “It’s hard to walk anywhere in Smitten in stilettos. Not that this ever stopped you.”

  “Pie. I, uh . . . no, I didn’t bring any pie, but my mom made some. Peach. If, you know. If you want to come by after the fireworks, I could serve you some.”

  “In stilettos?”

  She turned to look back at her friends.

  “Julia, is there something you want to say to me?”

  She met the warmth in his eyes and became lost in the way they crinkled at the edges, and he conjured one dimple on his left cheek from years of his crooked smile.

  “Nothing. Thanks for the hot dog.”

  “No, no. You’re not getting away that easily. Spill it. I have half a spa in my restaurant that says you owe me the truth.”